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Author issues apology after calling Down's syndrome 'mongolism' in new book

A bestselling author has apologised and recalled 20,000 copies of her new book after she used ‘mongolism’ to describe people with Down’s syndrome.

Australian celebrity nutritionist Libby Weaver said she was ‘mortified to have caused anyone any distress’, and that she was unaware the word was offensive and outdated.

The term ‘mongolism’ was used until the 1980s, but now the medical term is Down's syndrome or Trisomy 21.

Weaver shared a video message on her website, explaining that she used the word in her latest book What Am I Supposed to Eat? because she thought it ‘was a current medically-used word’.

‘It has since been brought to my attention it is a word that is used in a derogatory way and I am very, very sorry to have caused anyone any distress through this error, particularly children with Down Syndrome and their families,’ she said.

Weaver added that people who had already bought a copy of the book could return it for a refund.